Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.
A. When people ask me what we do with computers, I tell them “Just about anything that has to do with a computer.” That is really true. But to be more specific, here are just a few of the services we provide:
Computer virus/spyware removal, error detection and removal, data transfers, data restoration, computer/printer setup, network setup and repair, router and/or modem diagnostics and replacement, computer upgrades, web design, web hosting, SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Q. Describe three recent jobs you’ve completed.
A. We recently rebuilt a website from the ground up that was not working properly after 8 months of trying from the other web designer; after two weeks in our hands, it now works properly and our customer was just ecstatic.
This week we retrieved important data from a hard drive for a customer after the customer accidentally made the computer “new,” and we just upgraded a Macintosh computer from OS Tiger to OS Snow Leopard including saving the data. We also removed very bad viruses and root-kits from several customer’s computers.
Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A. Try to call as soon as you know you are having a problem, even if you don’t think it is a big problem. We can discuss the situation and decide together if it needs immediate investigation or if you can take a wait and see attitude.
VERY IMPORTANT: If you ever think you have lost some of your data such as by accidentally reformatting your hard drive (making it like new) please do not do anything else until you call us! We have had two customers in the last two days lose very important data from their computers because they over-wrote the data by copying some files back to their computer. We could have retrieved their data for them but once it gets over-written, it is impossible to ever get back.
Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?
A. I think the best secret to share about computers is not to be afraid of them. No matter what happens, almost anything can be fixed as long as you have backups of your important data. That reminds me – here is one of my favorite sayings to help people with their backups:
“The more important your stuff is to you, the more places you want to have it – both in terms of computers and other equipment like external hard drives, and geographic locations. Look at it this way – you back up your stuff, but what if you have a fire? Will you still have your stuff?”
Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?
A. First, ask him (or her) how long they have been helping people with their computers. If they stutter at that question, you need to find someone else.
You also want to ask how much they charge and if there is a trip fee (if they come to you). Stay away from them if they are really cheap ($25 an hour, for example) because they will probably gouge you out the door in things like trip fees and “mystery repairs” where they “find” something wrong and over-charge for the repair.
Be prepared to pay appropriately for a trained, certified, experienced computer professional – at least $60 per hour all the way up to $100 per hour is not unusual. Just like in everything else, you get what you pay for.
Lastly, make sure you feel comfortable over the phone with the person that will be coming to your home or business. If something does not feel right, look for someone else.
Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?
A. Before you make the call, please make a list of everything you want to address so you can explain those things to the computer professional. I love it when the customer makes a list for me – I know exactly what the scope of the project will be and can approximate how long it will take me. This way I can be efficient in my day by scheduling my calls appropriately.
I find that it is more difficult when after arriving the customer says “Oh, and I need this done, and then I need that done and then I need this other thing.”
If I have another call after yours, I know I am going to be late because we just changed the scope of your project. This means I have to call that next customer and give them the disappointing news.
Don’t get me wrong; I love the work. I would just like to know about it ahead of time if at all possible 🙂
Lastly, don’t feel bad if you don’t know what’s wrong – we don’t expect you to know – that’s our job 🙂 Just try to be as specific as possible about the symptoms you are experiencing. We will take it from there.
Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?
A. This is a really difficult question to answer because everyone will tell you they are the best at what they do. I let our customers do the talking for us – you can find testimonials on our website or by doing a search on Google for Glick’s Computer Repair Reviews. There you will find reviews such as this one from Leo:
David is excellent at diagnosing computer problems and can readily repair and test complete functionality. I’ve used David on a number of occasions and have always found him thorough and dependable. With his expertise, reasonable cost and sparkling personality, he is a keeper. Leo Baldyga
Leo has been a customer for almost two years; he recently purchased his replacement computer from us. Now he just calls me when his printer isn’t working or just to keep in touch 🙂
Q. What do you like most about your job?
A. I have always liked helping people and this is where I get my greatest satisfaction in this business. I get to meet the greatest people and help them with their computer issues!
So not only do I get to do what I love doing (by working with computers) but I also get the satisfaction of helping people that I really enjoy being around.
Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What’s your answer?
A. One of the most common questions that I am asked, besides backing up data which is answered in another question on my profile, is “Why does my computer still get a virus even though I have anti-virus software?”
Short Answer: Because the bad guys are always two steps ahead of the good guys.
Long Answer: Pretend you are a virus writer (yep, you just learned how to program computers – but only for bad, not for good :)) and I am the anti-virus company. Any of them – Norton, Mcafee, Kaspersky, etc. You just programmed your latest creation and sent it out on the Internet free as a bird.
Do I know about this yet? Nope! How could I? You are the bad guy! You aren’t going to tell me about it. How am I going to find out about it? By combing through billions of web pages? Nope, I do not think so. Someone has to report it to me, or I might get lucky and find it somehow.
How long does it take from the time the bad guys release their bad stuff and the time the good guys find it and can ‘successfully’ fight it? Sometimes months. Yep, I have seen viruses that I know have been out for months still not caught by anti-virus software.
So now you are asking – why do I even have anti-virus software if it can’t even catch the latest bugs? Because at least it can catch the old bugs (most of the time!)! With no protection, you leave yourself wide open to bad malware. Don’t be tempted to run without anti-virus software – it is never a good idea.
So what is the best? Ask 10 techs, get 10 different answers 🙂 But, I (and MANY other techs) really like Windows Defender (Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7). It is FREE! It is NOT intrusive (it doesn’t inform you EVERY time it does something!) It does not ask you to update it every month. (That's automatic) And it does NOT ask you to upgrade to the paid version. (There isn't one)
Oh yeah, and it is really good at catching most (old) viruses and all the new ones too.
Want to talk more? Call us 🙂 928-649-3032